Geographic map updating methods and systems

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for updating digital maps by refining map feature positions and improving map position accuracy are disclosed. Geographic map updating may include a base map element and an update element where the base map element may include a representation of the map area displaying features thereof and the update element may include a geographic feature identification element and one or more positioning elements. One embodiment includes identifying a point of interest&#39;s position data and updating the map data within a map region surrounding the point of interest.

FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to methods and systems for refiningmap feature positions and improving map position accuracy in digitalmaps. More specifically, but not exclusively, the disclosure relates tomethods and systems for updating and refining map feature positions andimproving map position accuracy in mapping-based utility locatingsystems.

BACKGROUND

In typical mapping systems, images or other renderings of an area may beassociated with locations on the Earth. For instance, an aerialphotograph of a house may be assigned GPS coordinates corresponding to ageneral location on the Earth's surface. Likewise, other geographicfeature may be assigned locations relative to the Earth's surface forvarious mapping purposes. In most applications, precision in thelocation of such geographic features is neither necessary nor possible.For instance, driving navigation towards a particular destinationaddress may take a user in the general proximity of the destinationleaving the user to figure out precisely where to go once generally nearto the destination.

Additionally, the precision of location of geographic features maychange over time. Movement of tectonic plates, shifting of ground,and/or other changes within the map environment may contribute todegrading of geographic feature location precision over time. Similarly,map position inaccuracies may result from the technique used in creatingthe map. For example, a series of contiguous satellite or other aerialphotographs or image tiles may be joined together to create a map. Increation of such maps, due to the angles at which the image has beentaken, curvature of the Earth or changes in elevation within each image,and/or small movements of the camera, may be adjusted for byrubber-sheeting techniques to distort such images to allow contiguousimage tiles to be seamlessly joined. In some such maps, geographicfeatures may be distorted, resulting in inaccurate geographic featurepositions and thereby inaccurate maps.

Maps, as used with utility excavation operations (i.e. when digging intothe ground), require the precise location of gas lines or otherutilities to be known in order to facilitate safe excavations and avoidcostly damage to infrastructure and human lives. Such maps may requirethe underground utility location to be known relative to a preciselocation on the ground level of the Earth's surface. Movement of mapfeatures and/or inaccurately mapped geographic features in utilitymapping applications may result in incorrect excavation location andultimate costly destruction of infrastructure and death or injury tocrews excavating such utilities.

The initial generation of some such maps may be particularly expensive.For instance, maps involving indexing of high resolution aerialphotograph to geographic features on the Earth's surface that have hadtheir positions determined via real time kinematic (RTK) satellitenavigation or other precise positioning techniques requires both highlyspecialized and expensive tools as well as a great deal of human laborto produce thus resulting in a high cost to generate such maps.Likewise, rubber-sheeting techniques may still introduce inaccuracies inthe creation of some such maps. Often, the solution as known in the artis to recreate the map which may both extremely expensive and laborintensive. Other known solutions for updating geographic features orother known map features lack the resolution required for precisemapping applications such as with utility locating, mapping, and/orexcavation.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art to address the above-describedas well as other problems related to the creation and updating of maps,as well as for map systems with improved location precision relating toboth a map itself and geographic or other features in the map.

SUMMARY

In accordance with various aspects of this disclosure, a geographic mapupdating system may include a base map element and an update element.The base map element may be or include a representation of the map areadisplaying features thereof. The update element may further include ageographic feature identification element and one or more positioningelements. The geographic feature identification element may identifygeographic features (e.g., manhole covers, traffic arrows, painted markson a street, and/or other marks or features) within an area on theEarth's surface coinciding with the same features represented within thebase map element. For instance, the geographic feature identificationelement may include a human or artificial intelligence or like machinelearning algorithms identifying a geographic feature within a mappedarea along the Earth's surface that may, generally through patternmatching or like algorithms, be matched to features within the base mapelement of the same area. The positioning elements may determine theposition of the geographic features identified along the Earth's surfaceby the geographic feature identification element. The positioningelements may include one or more devices or systems for determining theposition of each geographic feature along the Earth's surface. Forinstance, a user may direct a laser rangefinder device working in tandemwith global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to determine theposition of geographic features along the Earth's surface. Suchpositioning elements may further include light detection and ranging(LiDAR), inertial navigation systems (INS), optical tracking systems,and/or other like devices and systems for determining positions on theEarth's surface. Such position elements may generally be achievedthrough measurement at a point existing on the geographic featurereferred to herein as a “reference point”. For example, this referencepoint may be or include the center point of manhole cover, the tip of atraffic arrow painted on a street, or other point on a geographicfeature that may coincide with the same point within the same featurewithin the base map element. The “reference point” may be the locationpoint (e.g., the laser dot produced by a laser rangefinder device) inwhich position of the geographic feature is measured. The geographic mapupdating system may further include a processing element for comparingand updating base map element data according to update element data.Data may further be stored within a data storage element.

In another aspect, the present disclosure may include a method forupdating the position of a geographic feature within a map. The methodmay include a step wherein a geographic feature is identified. Inanother step, a position measurement at a reference point of thegeographic feature is determined. In some embodiments, a step may beincluded wherein photographs or other images of the geographic featureand surrounding environment may be generated. In another step, thegeographic feature may be correlated to features representing thegeographic feature within the base map. This step may include the use ofpattern recognition, artificial intelligence, and/or other likealgorithms or techniques to match geographic features between a base mapand the updated geographic feature position data. In another step, thedifference in position between reference points on the newly identifiedgeographic feature and the same geographic feature within the base mapmay be determined. In another step, the image tile(s) or other featureregion(s) containing the geographic feature may be translated based onthe determined reference point position differences. In another step,the geographic feature position and related mapping data may be storedand optionally displayed.

In another aspect, the present disclosure may include a method forupdating the position of a geographic feature within a map. This methodmay include a step whereby a utility locating and mapping operation isperformed having one or more geographic features identified and thepositions thereof determined. The method may further include a stepwhereby processing of utility locating and mapping data and geographicfeature position data is performed. In another step, the difference inposition between the geographic feature(s) from the utility locating andmapping data and coinciding geographic feature(s) within the base mapmay be determined. In another step, the image tile(s) or other featureregion(s) containing the geographic feature is translated based on theupdated geographic feature position data. In another step,rubber-sheeting or like techniques may be used may be used to distortthe boundaries of the image tile(s) or other feature region(s) allowingthe one or more translated image tiles or other feature regions toseamlessly adjoin with neighboring image tiles or other feature regionswhile maintaining the updated position of the measured geographicfeature. The data may further be stored and/or displayed on one or moredevices.

In another aspect, the present disclosure may include a geographic mapupdating method. The geographic map updating method may include a stepwherein position updates for one or more geographic features within amapped area may be determined. The geographic feature position updatesmay be selectively chosen by a user and/or through machine algorithms.In another step, geographic features within base map may be aligned tothe geographic feature positions within the updated map area and theimage tile or other feature regions may be distorted to maintain smoothand continuous boundaries to neighboring image tiles or other featureregions. In an optional step, a quality metric may be generateddescribing how accurately the base map or image tiles or other featureregions within a base map align with the updated map data. In anotherstep, the method may store and optionally display the updated base mapand related data.

In another aspect, the present disclosure may include another geographicmap updating method. The geographic map updating method may include astep wherein position updates for one or more geographic features withina mapped area may be determined. The geographic feature position updatesmay be selectively chosen by a user and/or through machine algorithms.In another step, a best fit position for the base map may be determinedby analyzing translation vectors from the position updates. In anotherstep, the base map or regions within the base map surrounding thegeographic features may be translated based on best fit data. In anotherstep, the method may store and optionally display the updated base mapand related data.

In another aspect, the present disclosure may include a method foraligning and improving the precision of additional maps to ageographically updated base map. The method may include a step whereinposition updates for one or more geographic features within a mappedarea may be determined. The geographic feature position updates may beselectively chosen by a user and/or through machine algorithms. Inanother step, a geographic map update may be determined for the base mapbased on the position updates of the geographic features. In anotherstep, one or more geographic features within the updated base mapcorrelating to features within one or more additional maps may bedetermined each corresponding to a translation vector. In another step,one or more translation vectors for additional map(s) may be determinedbased on alignment of correlating geographic features. In another step,the one or more additional maps may be translated based on the one ormore translation vectors. In another step, the method may store andoptionally display the updated and additional map data.

Various additional aspects, features, and functions are described belowin conjunction with the appended Drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present application may be more fully appreciated in connection withthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a method describing updating the position of a geographicfeature via a measured reference point.

FIG. 1B is an illustration of updating a geographic feature position viatranslating the image tile containing the feature as related to themethod of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1C is an illustration of updating geographic feature positionswherein the image tile contains multiple geographic features.

FIG. 1D is an illustration of a method of updating a geographic featureposition via translating a feature region containing the feature ratherthan an image tile using the method of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A is another method describing updating a geographic feature'sposition via a measured reference point.

FIG. 2B is an illustration of a method of updating a geographic featurewherein the image tile or other feature regions is a quantity of spacesurrounding the geographic feature.

FIG. 3A is a method for geographic map updating.

FIG. 3B is an illustration demonstrating the geographic map updatingmethod of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4A is another method for geographic map updating.

FIG. 4B is illustration demonstrating the geographic map updating methodof FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5A is a method for updating additional maps based on featureswithin a geographically updated base map.

FIG. 5B is an illustration demonstrating the geographic map updatingmethod of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an exemplary geographic map updatingsystem.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a utility locating, mapping, and geographicfeature identification system.

FIG. 8A is a method for geographic map updating using a utilitylocating, mapping, and geographic feature identification system.

FIG. 8B is an illustration of a utility locating map with a utility lineindexed therein aligning and merging with a base map.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an exemplary system device for geographic mapupdating.

FIG. 10A is an illustration of a geographic map update wherein thefeature region translates to the updated data.

FIG. 10B is an illustration of a geographic map update wherein theupdated data translates to the feature region.

FIG. 11 is an exemplary utility map.

FIG. 12A is a method for geographic map updating to generate a utilitylocating map.

FIG. 12B is an illustration of a base map having at least one identifiedgeographic feature with associated reference point.

FIG. 12C is an illustration of the base map from step 12B overlaid withutility line position data relative to an updated position of thegeographic feature as determined through a utility locating and mappingprocedure.

FIG. 12D is the illustration from FIG. 12C with a translation vector.

FIG. 12E is an illustration of a utility map having the geographicfeature of the base map translated to the updated position determined bythe utility locating and mapping procedure.

FIG. 13A is another method for geographic map updating to generate autility locating map.

FIG. 13B is an illustration of a base map having at least one identifiedgeographic feature with associated reference point.

FIG. 13C is an illustration of the base map from step 13B overlaid withutility line position data relative to an updated position of thegeographic feature as determined through a utility locating and mappingprocedure.

FIG. 13D is the illustration from FIG. 13C with a translation vector.

FIG. 13E is an illustration of a utility map having the utility lineposition determined by the utility locating and mapping proceduretranslated to the geographic feature position of the base map.

FIG. 14A is another method for geographic map updating wherein thereference point is physically separated from the geographic feature.

FIG. 14B is an illustration of a base map having at least one identifiedgeographic feature with a reference point separated from the geographicfeature.

FIG. 14C is an illustration of the base map from step 14B overlaid withupdated data overlaid and having an updated position of the geographicfeature and a predicted updated position for a corresponding referencepoint.

FIG. 14D is the illustration from FIG. 14C with a translation vector.

FIG. 14E is an illustration of an updated map wherein the feature regioncontaining the geographic feature is translated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Terminology

As used herein, the terms “buried objects,” “buried assets,” and “buriedutilities” include conductive objects such as water and sewer lines,power lines, and other buried conductors, as well as objects locatedinside walls, between floors in multi-story buildings, or cast intoconcrete slabs as well as non-conductive utilities and electronic markerdevices. They further include other conductive and nonconductive objectsdisposed below the surface of the ground. In a typical application aburied object is a pipe, cable, conduit, wire, or other object buriedunder the ground surface, at a depth of from a few centimeters to metersor more, which has an alternating current flowing in it (the alternatingcurrent generates a corresponding electromagnetic field). In a locateoperation, a user, such as a utility company employee, constructioncompany employee, homeowner, or other person attempts to find theutility based on sensing of magnetic fields generated by the AC currentflow in the utility. The sensed information may be used directly or maybe combined with other information to mark the utility, map the utility(e.g., by surface position as defined by latitude/longitude or othersurface coordinates, and/or also by depth), and/or for other relatedpurposes.

As noted above, locating buried utilities or other assets may be done byreceiving electromagnetic signals emitted from the utilities and thenprocessing these signals in one or more “utility locator devices”,“utility locators”, or simply “locators”. Utility locators sense themagnetic field component of the electromagnetic signal emitted from aflowing AC current and process the signal accordingly to determineinformation about the buried object. Typical locators use one or morehorizontal antennas to determine when the locator is directly above theutility, and then use vertical or omnidirectional antenna coil arrays todetermine depth. Applicant's more advanced locators use additionalantennas, such as multiple omnidirectional antenna arrays, dodecahedralantenna arrays, and other advanced techniques and devices, such as thosedescribed in the incorporated applications, to determine additionalinformation about the buried utilities as well as their associatedenvironment by measuring and processing multiple magnetic field signalsin two or three orthogonal dimensions and over time and position.

As used herein, the term “position” in relation to mapping refers to alocation on the Earth's surface (e.g., latitudinal and longitudinalworld coordinates). Position may, in some mapping embodiments, includean orientation or heading at that location on the Earth's surface. Inrelation to devices that may be used in the mapping process as well asutility data, “position” may refer to a location in space, typically inthree-dimensional (X, Y, Z coordinates or their equivalent) space, aswell as an orientation of the source at that location. The orientationmay generally refer to the relative direction or heading which maygenerally be a compass direction. In some instances, such as withutility lines and/or some utility locating devices, “position” mayinclude “pose” or tilt data of an object in three dimensional space at alocation.

As used herein, the term “geographic feature” may be a feature withinthe mapped area. For instance some common geographic features mayinclude but are not limited to manhole covers, painted street elements,intersections between ground surface materials (e.g., asphalt, concrete,grass, dirt, or other like materials), or the like. A geographic featuremay generally include features that are naturally existing andrecognizable in the area mapped but may also include features that maybe placed or marked upon the ground surface by a user and furtherrecognizable in the corresponding imagery of the map area. Thecorrelation of recognition of geographic features between maps andmeasured on the Earth's surface may general include the use of patternrecognition, artificial intelligence, and/or other machine learningalgorithms or technologies. In utility locating and mapping operations,a geographic feature may generally be an element of some significance tolocating buried utilities. For instance, such a geographic feature maybe a conductive object or otherwise emit one or more signals that may bemeasured by a utility locator device. It is noted that the measurementof geographic feature positions may be actualized through measurement ata point on the geographic feature referred to herein as a “referencepoint”.

The “reference point” may be or include the center point of manholecover, the tip of a traffic arrow painted on a street, or other point ona geographic feature that may coincide with the same point within thesame feature within the base map element. The “reference point” may bethe location point (e.g., a laser dot produced by a laser rangefinderdevice) in which position of the geographic feature is measured. Thereference point may, in some embodiments, exist in a physically separatelocation relative to the geographic feature.

As used herein, the term “positioning elements” refers to one or moredevices or systems for determining the position of each geographicfeature along the Earth's surface. For instance, a user may direct alaser rangefinder device working in tandem with global navigationsatellite systems (GNSS) to determine the position of geographicfeatures along the Earth's surface. Such positioning elements mayfurther include light detection and ranging (LiDAR), inertial navigationsystems (INS), optical tracking systems, and/or other like devices andsystems for determining positions on the Earth's surface. Such elementsmay comprise data representing particular maps, features on maps, orother associated information. “Elements” as described herein may alsoinclude modules implemented in hardware and associated software thatinclude electronic components, processors, and/or associated firmware orsoftware to implement the associated element functions digitally.

The geographic features may generally be included in a “base map” aswell as within one or more “image tiles” or other “feature regions.” The“base map” may be a map of a location. Generally, but not exclusively,the “base map” may be comprised of a series of contiguous satellite orother aerial photographs or “image tiles” seamlessly joined together torepresent the Earth's surface. The “image tile” may, in someembodiments, be an area surrounding a geographic feature that ispredefined or user defined or defined by machine algorithms. The imagetile may be the photograph or image of which the map is comprisedcontaining the geographic feature. Each image tile may have “image tileboundaries” describing the limit or dividing lines of each image tile,separating each image tile from contiguous image tiles. In otherembodiments, the image tile may be a new or otherwise updated photographor image containing the geographic feature and surrounding area mergedinto another map. In some embodiments, the translated areas may be“feature regions” each comprising a quantity of space surrounding eachgeographic feature instead of the aforementioned image tiles.

The term “translation vector” as used herein may describe the directionand magnitude representing the direction and distance of the geographicfeature translation. The resulting geographic feature post translationmay be referred to herein as “updated geographic feature.” As usedherein, the updated geographic feature may have an “updated geographicfeature position” referring to the translated position of the geographicfeature.

As used herein, the term “related data” may refer to data representing,calculating, and/or determining base maps, geographic features, updatedgeographic features, positions or updated positions, translationvectors, image tiles, image tile boundaries, and/or feature regions.Such related data may include that generated by tracked distancemeasuring devices or systems, utility locator devices, and/or utilitylocating systems.

The term “updated data” used herein may refer to the revised geolocationof a geographic feature or reference point that may differ to thecorresponding geographic feature or reference point in the base map aswell as other data relating to the process of determining the revisedgeolocation. In some embodiments, such updated data may be collectedthrough a utility locating and mapping procedure wherein the updateddata may include the predicted positions of utility lines in the groundas well as other data relating to the utility lines.

Overview

This disclosure relates generally to methods and systems for refiningmap feature positions and improving map position accuracy. Morespecifically, but not exclusively, the disclosure relates to methods andsystems for refining map feature positions and improving map positionaccuracy as determined by and used within utility locating systems.

Details of example utility locating devices and systems that may becombined with the geographic map updating system and method embodimentsherein, as well as additional components, methods, and configurationsthat may be used in conjunction with the embodiments described herein,are disclosed in co-assigned patents and patent applications including:U.S. Pat. No. 7,009,399, issued Mar. 7, 2006, entitled OMNIDIRECTIONALSONDE AND LINE LOCATOR; U.S. Pat. No. 7,136,765, issued Nov. 14, 2006,entitled A BURIED OBJECT LOCATING AND TRACING METHOD AND SYSTEMEMPLOYING PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS FOR BLIND SIGNAL DETECTION; U.S.Pat. No. 7,221,136, issued May 22, 2007, entitled SONDES FOR LOCATINGUNDERGROUND PIPES AND CONDUITS; U.S. Pat. No. 7,276,910, issued Oct. 2,2007, entitled COMPACT SELF-TUNED ELECTRICAL RESONATOR FOR BURIED OBJECTLOCATOR APPLICATIONS; U.S. Pat. No. 7,288,929, issued Oct. 30, 2007,entitled INDUCTIVE CLAMP FOR APPLYING SIGNAL TO BURIED UTILITIES; U.S.Pat. 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No.15/497,040, filed Apr. 25, 2017, entitled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORLOCATING AND/OR MAPPING BURIED UTILITIES USING VEHICLE-MOUNTED LOCATINGDEVICES; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/590,964, filed May 9, 2017,entitled BORING INSPECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS; U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/623,174, filed Jun. 14, 2017, entitled TRACKABLE DIPOLEDEVICES, METHODS, AND SYSTEMS FOR USE WITH MARKING PAINT STICKS; U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/626,399, filed Jun. 19, 2017, entitledSYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UNIQUELY IDENTIFYING BURIED UTILITIES IN AMULTI-UTILITY ENVIRONMENT; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/633,682,filed Jun. 26, 2017, entitled BURIED OBJECT LOCATING DEVICES ANDMETHODS; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/681,409, filed Aug. 20,2017, entitled WIRELESS BURIED PIPE AND CABLE LOCATING SYSTEMS; U.S.Pat. No. 9,798,033, issued Oct. 24, 2017, entitled SONDE DEVICESINCLUDING A SECTIONAL FERRITE CORE; U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/811,361, filed Nov. 13, 2017, entitled OPTICAL GROUND TRACKINGAPPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS; U.S. Pat. No. 9,841,503, issued Dec.12, 2017, entitled OPTICAL GROUND TRACKING APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, ANDMETHODS; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/846,102, filed Dec. 18,2017, entitled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ELECTRONICALLY MARKING, LOCATINGAND VIRTUALLY DISPLAYING BURIED UTILITIES; U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/866,360, filed Jan. 9, 2018, entitled TRACKED DISTANCE MEASURINGDEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS; U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/870,787, filed Jan. 12, 2018, entitled MAGNETIC FIELD CANCELING AUDIOSPEAKERS FOR USE WITH BURIED UTILITY LOCATORS OR OTHER DEVICES; U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/877,230, filed Jan. 22, 2018, entitledUTILITY LOCATING TRANSMITTER APPARATUS AND METHODS; U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application 62/620,959, filed Jan. 23, 2018, entitledRECHARGEABLE BATTERY PACK ONBOARD CHARGE STATE INDICATION METHODS ANDAPPARATUS; U.S. Pat. No. 9,880,309, issued Jan. 30, 2018, entitledUTILITY LOCATOR TRANSMITTER APPARATUS AND METHODS; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/889,067, filed Feb. 5, 2018, entitled UTILITYLOCATOR TRANSMITTER DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS WITH DOCKABLEAPPARATUS; U.S. Pat. No. 9,891,337, issued Feb. 13, 2018, entitledUTILITY LOCATOR TRANSMITTER DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS WITH DOCKABLEAPPARATUS; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/656,259,filed Apr. 11, 2018, entitled GEOGRAPHIC MAP UPDATING METHODS ANDSYSTEMS; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/688,259, filedJun. 21, 2018, entitled ACTIVE MARKER DEVICES FOR UNDERGROUND USE; U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/144,878, filed Sep. 27, 2018, entitledMULTIFUNCTION BURIED UTILITY LOCATING CLIPS; U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/178,494, filed Nov. 1, 2018, entitled THREE-AXIS MEASUREMENTMODULES AND SENSING METHODS; and U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 62/777,045, filed Dec. 7, 2018, entitled MAP GENERATION BASEDON UTILITY LINE POSITION AND ORIENTATION ESTIMATES. The content of eachof the above-described patents and applications is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. The above applications may becollectively denoted herein as the “co-assigned applications” or“incorporated applications.”

In one aspect, the disclosure is directed to a geographic map updatingsystem. The system may include, for example, a base map element,including a data representation of an area displaying features thereofand an update element. The update element may include a geographicfeature identification element to identify geographic featurescoinciding with those of the base map element, a position element fordetermining a position of the identified geographic features based onprovided positional data, a processing element for comparing the basemap element data and the update element data to determine and generatean updated map, and a non-transitory electronic data storage element forstoring the base map element data, update element data, andcorresponding updated map data.

The position element may include, for example, a global navigationsatellite system receiver for providing the positional data to theposition element, an inertial navigation system for providing thepositional data to the position element, and/or a rangefinder system forproviding the positional data to the position element. The base mapelement may include one or more satellite or other aerial photographicimages represented by digital data, image tiles represented by digitaldata, or other feature regions represented by digital data that areorganized so as to be joined together to represent all or a portion ofthe Earth's surface by placing the tiles together.

The update element may include, for example, a buried utility locator.The buried utility locator may be a mapping locator. The buried utilitylocator may include a locator housing, an electromagnetic receiver frontend subsystem, coupled to or disposed in the locator housing. The frontend system may include a plurality of magnetic field antennas or antennaarrays and a receiver circuit coupled thereto. The antennas may includeat least a first antenna array located at a first position and a secondantenna array located at a second position, spatially separated from thefirst position. The front end subsystem may include electronics toreceive, simultaneously at the first position and the second position, amagnetic field electromagnetic signal. The update element may includeone or more positioning elements. The positioning element may bedisposed in the locator housing and may be coupled to the front endsubsystem. The positioning element may include one or more globalnavigation systems antennas and receiver circuitry coupled thereto. Thepositioning element may be or include real time kinematic (RTK) systemsor other electronics for generating location data, such aslatitude/longitude coordinates. The update element may include ageographic feature identification element. The geographic featureidentification element may include electronics, electronic memory, andone or more processors for generating a location for geographic featureswithin the work environment. The update element may include a processingelement, disposed in the locator housing and coupled to the front endsubsystem, programmed to process a first measurement of the ambientelectromagnetic signal at the first position, and a second measurementof the ambient electromagnetic signal at the second position, anddetermine, based at least in part on the first measurement and thesecond measurement, information associated with the buried conductorcorresponding to location data generated by the positioning elements aswell as geographic feature locations. The update element may include anon-transitory electronic memory coupled to the processing element tostore the determined information pertaining to the buried conductor. Theelectromagnetic signal may include a combination of a direct magneticfield signal emitted from a radio transmitting antenna and a magneticfield signal emitted from the buried conductor resulting fromelectromagnetic coupling of the direct magnetic field signal to theburied conductor.

The update element may include, for example, a dipole tracked distancemeasuring system. The system may include a signal tracking device. Thesignal tracking device may include one or more magnetic field antennaarrays, one or more positioning elements for determining the location ofthe signal tracking element in three dimensional space, a processingelement for processing received dipole signals and data signals from thetracked distance measuring device, a data storage element for storinggeographic feature location data and other signal data, and a trackeddistance measuring device. The tracked distance measurement device mayinclude a body, a rangefinder element for measuring distance to ageographic feature, an alternating current (AC) signal generator, amagnetic field dipole antenna, and an actuator for initiating generationof an electromagnetic signal in conjunction with measuring distance. Theelectromagnetic dipole signal may be generated in conjunction withmeasuring of a distance by the rangefinder element. Informationassociated with a position of the tracked distance measuring device maybe determined in a processing element of the signal tracking elementbased on receiving and processing an electromagnetic dipole signal inthe one or more magnetic field antenna arrays.

In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a processor implementedmethod for updating the position of a geographic feature within a basemap. The method may include, for example, identifying one or moregeographic features, determining the position of a reference point alongthe one or more geographic features relative to the Earth's surface,correlating the measured geographic feature to a corresponding featureddigitally represented within a base map, determining the difference inposition between the reference point of base map geographic features andcorresponding reference point of the geographic feature measured alongthe Earth's surface, translating one or more image tiles or otherfeature regions containing each geographic feature based on updatedgeographic feature position data, and storing the updated base mapcontaining the translated map update region and geographic feature in anon-transitory electronic memory. The method may further includeproviding a visual display of the updated base map containing thetranslated map update region and geographic feature on an electronicdisplay device.

The method may include, for example, performing rubber-sheeting signalprocessing at the one or more translated image tiles or other featureregions to smooth and seamlessly join the translated image tiles orother feature regions and contiguous image tiles or other featureregions of the base map. The updated position of the geographic featuretherein may be maintained in the rubber-sheeting signal processing. Thephotographs or other imagery of the identified one or more geographicfeatures may be locally generated. The locally generating may includecapturing digital imagery in a camera or from a utility locator. Theimage tiles may each be an individual photograph or image from a basemap comprised of a multitude of stitched together satellite or aerialphotographs or other images representing the Earth's surface. The imagetile or other feature regions may be a predefined region surroundingeach geographic feature. The image tile or other feature regions may bea region surrounding each geographic feature determined by a user basedon user input or user supplied data files. The image tile or otherfeature regions may be a region surrounding each geographic featuredetermined by a signal processing algorithm. The image tile or tiles maybe replaced by a new photograph or image tile of the geographic featureand surrounding area. The new photograph or image tile may be generatedwhen determining the updated position of the geographic feature. Apattern recognition or other machine learning algorithm may be used toidentify coinciding geographic features. Reference points for geographicfeatures may be located in a physically separate location from theircorresponding geographic feature.

In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a processor implementedmethod for geographic map data updating via a utility locating andmapping system. The method may include, for example, performing autility locating and mapping operation wherein one or more geographicfeatures are identified and corresponding data representing positionsthereof are determined, generating corresponding utility locating andmapping data including one or more of surface position coordinate andburied utility depth, associating the utility locating and mapping dataand geographic feature position data, determining the difference inposition between the newly identified geographic features from theutility locating and mapping data and the same geographic featureswithin a base map, translating the image tiles or other feature regionscontaining the geographic feature on the base map based on updatedgeographic feature position data, correlating the utility locating andmapping data to the update geographic feature position(s) within theupdated base map, and storing the updated base map in a non-transitoryelectronic memory. The method may further include providing a visualdisplay of the updated base map on an electronic display device.

The method may include, for example, applying rubber-sheeting signalprocessing to the one or more translated image tiles or other featureregions to smooth and seamlessly join the translated image tiles orother feature regions and contiguous image tiles or other featureregions of the base map while maintaining the updated position of thegeographic feature therein. The utility locating and mapping datagenerated by the locator may be indexed to one or more updatedgeographic feature positions and stored in a non-transitory electronicmemory. The utility locating and mapping data may be indexed relative tothe updated map.

In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a processor implementedmethod for geographic map data updating. The method may include, forexample, determining data corresponding to position updates for one ormore geographic features within a mapped area, determining datacorresponding to the geographic features with a base map, aligning datacorresponding to the geographic features within base map to datacorresponding to the geographic features in the updated map area,geometrically modifying image tile or other feature region data toprovide smooth and continuous boundaries to neighboring image tilesneighboring feature regions, and storing the geometrically modifiedimage time or other feature region data in a non-transitory electronicmemory. The method may further include providing a visual display of amap including at least the updated tile or base map on an electronicdisplay device. The method may further include generating a qualitymetric describing how accurately the base map or image tiles or otherfeature regions within a base map align with the updated map data. Thequality metric may be stored in an electronic non-transitory memory.

In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a processor implementedmethod for geographic map data. The method may include, for example,determining position updates for data defining one or more geographicfeatures within a mapped area, generating translation vectors data basedon the position updates, determining a best fit position for thegeographic features data and the base map data by processing thetranslation vectors data from the position updates using a best fitalgorithm, translating data corresponding to base map data or datacorresponding to regions within the base map surrounding the geographicfeatures based on the determined best fit to generate an updated basemap, and storing the data corresponding to the updated base map in anon-transitory memory. The method may include providing a visual displayof the updated base map on an electronic display device. The translatedregion surrounding the geographic features may be determined byselection input data provided by a user. The selection input data may begenerated from mouse, keyboard, or other user-interface device inputmade by the user. The translated region surrounding the geographicfeatures may be determined by a signal processing algorithm.

In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a processor implementedmethod for aligning and improving the precision of map data fromgeographically updated base map data. The method may include, forexample, identifying data corresponding to ones of a plurality ofgeographic features in a mapped area, determining position updates forthe plurality of geographic features data, determining geographic mapupdate data from a base map based on the determined position updates,associating the geographic map update data with the base map,determining one or more geographic features within the updated base mapcorrelating to features corresponding to data within one or more othermaps, determining data defining one or more translation vectors for theone or more other maps data based at least in part on alignment ofcorrelating geographic features between the updated base map and the oneor more other maps data, translating positioning data in the one or moreother maps data based on the data defining the one or more translationvectors, and storing the geographic map update data and data associatedwith the translation of the one or more other maps in an electronicnon-transitory memory. The method may further include providing a visualdisplay of the translated one or more other maps on a visual displaydevice. The method may further include providing a visual display of anupdate of the mapped area based on the geographic map update data fromthe base map.

Various additional aspects, features, and functions are described belowin conjunction with the embodiments shown in FIG. 1A through FIG. 9 ofthe appended Drawings.

EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

It is noted that as used herein, the term, “exemplary” means “serving asan example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect, detail, function,implementation, and/or embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otheraspects and/or embodiments.

Turning to FIG. 1A, a method 100 for identifying and updating geographicfeature positions may include a step 101 wherein a geographic feature isidentified within an area that may also be represented within a base mapof the same area. Some examples of such geographic features may includebut are not limited to, manhole covers or other identifiable street orsidewalk or other infrastructure elements, painted or otherwise humancreated marks such as the tip of a direction arrow painted on a street,and/or other elements along the Earth's surface. The geographic featuremay, in some embodiments, be selected by a user. In other embodiments,the selection of geographic features may involve pattern recognitionand/or other machine learning algorithms. The base map may comprise of aseries of satellite or aerial photographs or other image tiles or otherfeature regions stitched together to represent an area of the Earth'ssurface. In a step 102, a position may be determined at a referencepoint on the geographic feature. The reference point may, for instance,be or include the center point of a manhole cover, the tip of a trafficarrow painted on a street, or other point on a geographic feature thatmay coincide with the same point within the same feature within the basemap. The position data may include location(s) on the Earth's surface(e.g., latitude and longitude coordinates). In some method embodiments,the position data may include orientation data at that location (e.g.,direction towards magnetic north) that may be used to generate ageographic rotation update of the image tile or tiles or other featureregions containing the geographic feature. In some embodiments, the step102 may include photographing or otherwise creating imagery of thegeographic feature and surrounding environment. Within step 102, thegeneration of geographic feature position data may include, for example,the use of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) including realtime kinematics (RTK) global positioning satellite (GPS) systems orother satellite positioning systems (e.g., GLONASS, Galileo,quasi-zenith satellite system, BeiDou, or the like), inertial navigationsystems (INS), magnetic sensors (e.g., compass sensors), light detectionand ranging (LIDAR) or other rangefinder devices or methods, and/orother positioning and orientation determining systems to determine thereference point position associated with each geographic feature. Ineven further embodiments, such as the utility locating, mapping, andgeographic feature identification system 400 of FIG. 4 , theidentification and/or position determining may be achieved via a utilitylocating and mapping operation which may include the use of one or moretracked distance measuring devices/systems and/or utility locatordevices and/or associated utility locating devices/systems as describedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/866,360, filed Jan. 9, 2018,entitled TRACKED DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS. Inthe various embodiments described herein, the geographic featureidentification data may include a time and date relating to thegeographic features updated measured position. Returning to FIG. 1A, ina step 103, the geographic feature identified on the Earth's surface maybe compared to features within the base map to determine a correlatingbase map geographic feature. The step 103 may include pattern matchingalgorithms and/or other machine learning algorithms to identifycorrelating geographic features between those measured and those withinthe base map. In a step 104, the difference in position between thereference point on the measured geographic features and the correlatinggeographic features within the base map may be calculated. Thiscalculation may generate a translation vector having both a directionand a magnitude representing the direction and distance of thegeographic feature translation. In some embodiments, the positiondifference may also include an orientation measurement at that locationwherein the orientation of the geographic feature at the originallocation is known or otherwise possible to be determined. When rotationdata is applicable or able to be determined (e.g., orientation data isavailable at the geographic feature location in the base map and/orotherwise determined from images of the geographic feature), a rotationupdate may be determined. In a step 105, the position difference(s) fromstep 104 may be used to translate the image tile(s) or other featureregion(s) containing the geographic feature. For instance, the imagetile(s) or other feature region(s) surrounding the geographic featuremay translate along the translation vector established between thereference point on the geographic feature within the base map and thatmeasured on the Earth's surface. Image reconstruction, imagetranslation, or like algorithms may be used to translate the map updateregion imagery to the position within the base map. In some embodimentshaving more than one geographic feature updates within a single imagetile or other feature region, the translations may not be equivalent indirection and/or magnitude. In such embodiments, simultaneous locatingand mapping (SLAM) algorithms, Kalman filters, neural network or likemachine learning, bundle adjustment algorithms, particle filteringalgorithms, averaging, scale invariant feature transform (SIFT), randomsample consensus (RANSAC), or the like algorithms or techniques may beused to determine the translation. In some such embodiments havingmultiple geographic feature updates within the same image tile or otherfeature region, the image tile or other feature region may be distortedto accommodate the multiple different translations. In a step 106,rubber-sheeting and/or other like techniques may be used to distort theboundaries of the image tile(s) or other feature region(s) allowing theone or more translated image tiles or other feature regions toseamlessly adjoin with neighboring image tiles or other feature regions.It should be noted that the rubber-sheeting or like techniques maymaintain the updated position of the measured geographic feature. In astep 107, the geographic feature position and related data may be storedand optionally displayed. The method 100 of FIG. 1A may optionallyrepeat identifying and updating geographic feature positions throughouta map area.

Turning to FIG. 1B, a base map 110 may represent a portion of theEarth's surface 120. The base map 110 may be comprised of a series ofindividual image tiles, such as image tile 130 a adjoined together torepresent a portion of the Earth's surface. The image tiles may bepositioned satellite or aerial photographs or other images stitchedtogether representing the Earth's surface. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, ageographic feature 140 a may have a position within base map 110 furtherreferencing a location on the Earth's surface 120. The position ofgeographic feature 140 a may include a location having latitudinal andlongitudinal world coordinates (e.g., measured by one or more real timekinematics (RTK) global positioning satellite (GPS) systems, Galileo,quasi-zenith satellite system, BeiDou, or the like). In someembodiments, the position of a geographic feature may include anorientation (e.g., heading relative to magnetic north) that may furtherbe updated (not illustrated). The position of geographic feature 140 amay be measured via a reference point 150 a on geographic feature 140 a.A geographic map updating system, such as the geographic map updatingsystem 600 illustrated in FIG. 6 or utility locating, mapping, andgeographic feature identification system 700 of FIG. 7 may identify anupdated position for geographic feature 140 a to the geographic feature140 b position as measured at reference point 150 b on geographicfeature 140 b relative to the Earth's surface 120. Based on the updatedposition data relating to reference point 150 b on geographic feature140 b, a translation vector 160 may be determined wherein the differencein direction and distance to the measured reference point 150 b ongeographic feature 140 b from a corresponding reference point 150 a ongeographic feature 140 a within base map 110 is calculated. Thetranslation vector 160 may be applied to all points within the imagetile 130 a such that the image tile 130 a is translated to the imagetile 130 b position. In some embodiments, a single geographic featuremay overlap into two or more image tiles. In such cases, the sametranslation vector may apply at each image tile or a translation mayindividually be determined at each image tile. In some embodiments, themovement of geographic features may be predicted (e.g., seismic data maybe used to predict shifting at the Earth's surface). In suchembodiments, the image tiles of a base map, such as the image tile 130a/b of base map 110, may be updated on an ongoing basis and/or upon atriggering event such as an earthquake or other predictive events ofmovement at the Earth's surface.

In some image tiles, more than one geographic feature may exist eachhaving a different translation vector that may not be equal in distanceand/or direction. As illustrated in FIG. 1C, the base map 110 may havegeographic features 140 a and 142 a having positions within the sameimage tile 130 a. The image tile 130 a and geographic features 140 a and142 a therein, may have positions relative to the Earth's surface 120. Ageographic map updating system, such as the geographic map updatingsystem 600 illustrated in FIG. 6 or utility locating, mapping, andgeographic feature identification system 700 of FIG. 7 may identify anupdated position for the geographic features 140 a and 142 a to thegeographic feature 140 b and 142 b positions as measured at referencepoint 150 b on geographic feature 140 b and reference point 152 b ongeographic feature 142 b relative to the Earth's surface 120. Based onthe updated position data relating to reference point 150 b ongeographic feature 140 b and reference point 152 b on geographic feature142 b, vectors 162 and 164 may be determined wherein the difference indirection and distance to the measured reference point 150 b ongeographic feature 140 b from a corresponding reference point 150 a ongeographic feature 140 a within base map 110 and the measured referencepoint 152 b on geographic feature 142 b from a corresponding referencepoint 152 a on geographic feature 142 a within base map 110 arecalculated. In such cases wherein the multiple vectors within a singleimage tile are not equal in distance or direction, such as vectors 162and 164, a geographic update may be determined by simultaneous locatingand mapping (SLAM) algorithms, Kalman filters, neural network or likemachine learning, bundle adjustment algorithms, particle filteringalgorithms, averaging, scale invariant feature transform (SIFT), randomsample consensus (RANSAC), or the like. For instance, a singletranslation vector, such as the translation vector 160 in FIG. 1C, maybe determined via one or more of such techniques. The translation vector160 may be applied to all points within the image tile 130 a such thatthe image tile 130 a is translated to the image tile 130 b position. Insome embodiments, the image tile containing the multiple geographicfeature translations may be distorted to accommodate precisetranslations for each geographic feature. Additional rubber-sheeting orlike techniques may again be applied to the image tile to seamlesslyadjoin the image tile with neighboring image tiles while maintaining theupdated position of each geographic feature.

Turning to FIG. 1D, a base map 165 may represent a portion of theEarth's surface 168. The base map 165 may include a series of featureregions, such as feature region 170 a or feature region 172 a, thatinclude or surround geographic features, such as geographic feature 180or geographic feature 182. The feature regions may include thegeographic feature and surrounding area, as illustrated with geographicfeature 180, or just the geographic feature, as illustrated withgeographic feature 182. Each geographic feature 180 and 182 may have aposition within base map 165 further referencing a location on theEarth's surface 168. The position of geographic features 180 and 182 mayinclude a location having latitudinal and longitudinal world coordinates(e.g., measured by one or more real time kinematics (RTK) globalpositioning satellite (GPS) systems, Galileo, quasi-zenith satellitesystem, BeiDou, or the like). In some embodiments, the position of ageographic feature may include an orientation (e.g., heading relative tomagnetic north) that may further be updated (not illustrated). Theposition of geographic features 180 and 182 may be measured via areference point, such as corresponding reference points 190 a and 192 a.A geographic map updating system, such as the geographic map updatingsystem 600 illustrated in FIG. 6 or utility locating, mapping, andgeographic feature identification system 700 of FIG. 7 may identifyupdated positions for feature regions 170 b and 172 b as measured atreference points 190 b and 192 b. Based on the updated position datarelating to reference points 190 b and 192 b, translation vector 190 cand 192 c may be determined wherein the difference in direction anddistance between reference points 190 a and 190 b and reference points192 a and 192 b are calculated. The translation vectors 190 c and 192 cmay be applied to all points within the respective feature regions 170 aand 172 a such that the feature regions 170 a and 172 a are translatedto the feature regions 170 b and 172 b positions respectively. In someembodiments, utility positions may be revealed in a utility locatingmap. For instance, utility positions may be indexed to feature regions,such as feature regions 170 a/b and 172 a/b, and/or reference pointstherein, such as reference points 190 a/b and 192 a/b, allowing theutility positions to be updated according to translation data determinedby the geographic map updating system or methods of the presentdisclosure.

Turning to FIG. 2A, a method 200 for identifying and updating geographicfeature positions may include a step 201 wherein a geographic feature isidentified within an area that may also be included within a base mapthat includes the same area. For example, step 201 may includeidentifying a geographic feature such as a manhole cover, traffic arrow,or like feature along the Earth's surface. In a step 202, a position(e.g., latitudinal and longitudinal world coordinates) may be determinedat a reference point on the geographic feature (e.g., center point of amanhole cover, the tip of a traffic arrow painted on a street, or otherpoint on the selected geographic feature). In a parallel step 203, aphotograph or other imagery of the geographic feature and surroundingenvironment may be generated. The images may include orthorectifiedimagery gathered by an unmanned aerial vehicle such as the drone 690 inFIG. 6 , images generated by a stereoscopic ground tracking device suchas the optical ground tracking device 766 illustrated in FIG. 7 anddescribed within the incorporated U.S. Pat. No. 9,841,503, issued Dec.12, 2017, entitled OPTICAL GROUND TRACKING APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, ANDMETHODS, and/or images collected from a tracked distance measuringsystem or device such as the tracked distance measuring device 475and/or smart phone 485 illustrated in FIG. 4 and further described inthe incorporated U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/866,360, filed Jan.9, 2018, entitled TRACKED DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SYSTEMS, ANDMETHODS. In a step 204, the geographic feature identified on the Earth'ssurface may be compared to features within a base map to determine acorrelating base map geographic feature. The step 204 may includepattern matching algorithms and/or other machine learning algorithms toidentify correlating geographic features between those measured andthose within the base map. In a step 205, the image tile(s) or otherfeature region(s) containing the geographic feature may be determined.In a step 206, the difference in position between the reference point onmeasured geographic features and correlating geographic features withinthe base map may be calculated. This calculation may result in atranslation vector having both a direction and a magnitude representingthe direction and distance of the geographic feature translation. In astep 207, the position difference(s) from step 206 may be used totranslate the image tile(s) or other feature region(s) containing thegeographic feature. For instance, the image tile(s) or other featureregion(s) containing the geographic feature may translate along a vectorestablished between the reference point on the geographic feature withinthe base map and that measured on the Earth's surface. Imagereconstruction, image translation, or like algorithms may be used totranslate the image tile(s) or other feature region(s) to the positionwithin the base map. In some embodiments, the photographs or otherimagery of the geographic feature and surrounding environment generatedin step 203 may replace the original base map image tile(s) or otherfeature region(s). In a step 208, rubber-sheeting and/or other liketechniques may optionally be used to distort the boundaries of the imagetile(s) or other feature region(s) allowing the one or more translatedimage tiles or other feature regions to seamlessly adjoin withneighboring image tiles or feature regions. It should be noted that therubber-sheeting or like techniques may maintain the updated position ofthe measured geographic feature. In a step 209, the geographic featureposition and related data may be stored and optionally displayed. Themethod 200 of FIG. 2A may optionally repeat identifying and updatinggeographic feature positions throughout a map area.

Turning to FIG. 2B, a base map 210 may represent a portion of theEarth's surface 220. As shown within FIG. 2B, the image tile 230 awithin base map 210 of FIG. 2B containing the geographic feature 240 a/bmay be a quantity of area surrounding geographic feature 240 a/b. Withinother embodiments described herein, the image tile may generally be anindividual photograph or image from a base map comprised of a multitudeof satellite or aerial photographs or other image tiles stitchedtogether to represent the Earth's surface. In some embodiment, such asthe embodiment of FIG. 2B, the image tile 230 a may instead be a featureregion comprising the geographic feature and, in some embodiments, aportion of space surrounding the geographic feature 240 a/b. This regionof space may be a predefined distance or variable distance surroundingan identified geographic feature that may be user determined ordetermined by algorithms. As illustrated in FIG. 2B, a geographicfeature 240 a may have a position within base map 210 furtherreferencing a location on the Earth's surface 220. The position ofgeographic feature 240 a may include a location having latitudinal andlongitudinal world coordinates (e.g., measured by one or more real timekinematics (RTK) global positioning satellite (GPS) systems, Galileo,quasi-zenith satellite system, BeiDou, or the like). In someembodiments, the position of a geographic feature may include anorientation (e.g., heading relative to magnetic north) that may furtherbe updated (not illustrated). The position of geographic feature 240 amay be measured via a reference point 250 a on geographic feature 240 a.A geographic map updating system, such as the map updating system 600illustrated in FIG. 6 or utility locating, mapping, and geographicfeature identification system 700 of FIG. 7 may identify an updatedposition for geographic feature 240 a to the geographic feature 240 bposition as measured at reference point 250 b on geographic feature 240b relative to the Earth's surface 220. Based on the updated positiondata relating to reference point 250 b on geographic feature 240 b, atranslation vector 260 may be determined wherein the difference indirection and distance to the measured reference point 250 b ongeographic feature 240 b from a corresponding reference point 250 a ongeographic feature 240 a within base map 210 is calculated. Thetranslation vector 260 may be applied to all points within the imagetile 230 a such that the image tile 230 a is translated to the imagetile 230 b position. Rubber-sheeting and/or other like techniques (notillustrated) may be used to distort the boundaries of the image tile 230b allowing the one or more translated image tiles 230 b to seamlesslyadjoin with neighboring image tiles while maintaining the positionalaccuracy of the updated geographic features.

Turning to FIG. 3A, a method 300 for geographic map updating isdescribed. The method 300 may include a step 301 wherein the position ofgeographic features are updated using the method 100 of FIG. 1A ormethod 200 of FIG. 2 . The step 301 may general include determiningposition updates for a multitude of geographic features throughout amapped area. Within some method 300 embodiments, the geographic featureposition updates of step 301 may be selectively chosen by a user and/orthrough machine algorithms to ensure the best possible position for eachgeographic feature. In a step 302, each geographic feature within thebase map may align with the updated geographic feature position and theimage tile(s) or other feature region(s) containing the geographicfeature and further be distorted so as to maintain smooth and continuousboundaries to neighboring image tiles or other feature regions. In anoptional step 303, a quality metric may be determined based on howaccurately or inaccurately the original base map or regions within thebase map align to the updated map dap data. In a step 304, the updatedbase map may be stored and/or optionally displayed.

Turning to FIG. 3B, a base map 310 may be comprised of a series of imagetiles 330. In other embodiments, the image tiles may instead be featureregions comprising the geographic feature and, in some embodiments, aportion of space surrounding each geographic feature. An updated maparea 320 may identify various geographic features having updatedpositions such as the geographic features 340, 342, 346, and 348. Theimage tiles 330 containing each geographic feature 340, 342, 346, and348 within the base map 310 may be translated along correspondingtranslation vectors 360, 362, 364, and 368 to align geographic features340, 342, 346, and 348 within the base map 310 to the geographicfeatures 340, 342, 346, and 348 within the updated map area 320.Rubber-sheeting or like techniques may be used on translated imagetile(s) 330 containing the geographic features 340, 342, 346, and 348 tomaintain smooth and continuous boundaries to neighboring image tiles330. Such techniques may maintain the updated geographic featureposition.

Turning to FIG. 4A, a method 400 for geographic map updating isdescribed. The method 400 may include a step 401 wherein the position ofgeographic features are updated using the method 100 of FIG. 1A ormethod 200 of FIG. 2 . The step 401 may generally include determiningtranslation vectors for updating a multitude of geographic featurepositions within a mapped area. Within some method 400 embodiments, thegeographic feature position updates of step 401 may be selectivelychosen by a user and/or through machine algorithms to ensure the bestpossible position for each geographic feature. In a step 402, thetranslation vector(s) may be analyzed to determine a best fit inaligning the base map with the updated geographic feature positions. Forinstance, simultaneous locating and mapping (SLAM) algorithms, Kalmanfilters, neural network or like machine learning, bundle adjustmentalgorithms, particle filtering algorithms, averaging, scale invariantfeature transform (SIFT), random sample consensus (RANSAC), or the likealgorithms or techniques may be applied to a number of translationvectors, each having a magnitude and direction, to determine ageographic update for the base map position. In a step 403, the base mapmay be translated to the best fit determined within step 402. In someembodiments, only regions of the base map within a certain distancesurrounding each translation. In such embodiments, such regions of mapbeing translated may be user determined or determined by algorithms. Itshould also be noted that the updated geographic feature positions willbe maintained through translation movements of a base map. In a step404, the updated base map may be stored and/or optionally displayed.

As illustrated in FIG. 4B, a base map 410 and an updated map area 420may have a series of corresponding geographic features 440, 442, 446,and 448. Within the updated map 420, updated positions for geographicfeatures 440, 442, 446, and 448 may be determined. The image tiles 430containing each geographic feature 440, 442, 446, and 448 within thebase map 410 may be translated along corresponding translation vectors460, 462, 464, and 468 to align geographic features 440, 442, 446, and448 within the base map 410 to the geographic features 440, 442, 446,and 448 within the updated map area 420. Rubber-sheeting or liketechniques may be used on translated image tile(s) containing thegeographic features to maintain smooth and continuous boundaries toneighboring image tiles. Such techniques may maintain the updatedgeographic feature position. The translation vectors 460, 462, 464, and468 may be analyzed to determine a best fit in aligning the base mapwith the updated geographic feature positions. For instance,simultaneous locating and mapping (SLAM) algorithms, Kalman filters,neural network or like machine learning, bundle adjustment algorithms,particle filtering algorithms, averaging, scale invariant featuretransform (SIFT), random sample consensus (RANSAC), or the likealgorithms or techniques may be applied to a number of translationvectors, each having a magnitude and direction, to determine ageographic update translation 470 for the base map 410 position. In someembodiments, only regions of the base map 410 may be translated. Theseregions may be user determined or determined by algorithms or may be theimage tiles or may be other feature regions. It should also be notedthat the updated geographic feature 440, 442, 446, and 448 positionswill be maintained through translation movements of a base map 410.

Turning to FIG. 5A, a method 500 for geographic map updating isdescribed for improving the accuracy for a multitude of maps. The method500 may include a step 501 wherein the position of geographic featuresare updated using the method 100 of FIG. 1A or method 200 of FIG. 2 . Ina step 502, a geographic map update may be determined using the method300 of FIG. 3A or method 400 of FIG. 4A. In a step 503, one or moregeographic features within the updated base map may be identifiedcorrelating to features within one or more additional maps. In a step504, a translation for the other maps may be determined based onalignment of correlating geographic features. In a step 505, the one ormore additional maps may be translated based on the determinedtranslation within step 504. In a step 506, the updated map data may bestored and optionally displayed.

Turning to FIG. 5B, a base map 510 and an updated map area 520 may havea series of corresponding geographic features 540 and 542. Within theupdated map 520, updated positions for geographic features 540 and 542may be determined. The image tiles 530 containing each geographicfeature 540 and 542 within the base map 510 may be translated alongcorresponding translation vectors 560 and 562 to align geographicfeatures 540 and 542 within the base map 510 to the geographic features540 and 542 within the updated map area 520. In some embodiments, theimage tiles 530 may instead be feature regions. Rubber-sheeting or liketechniques may be used on translated image tile(s) or other featureregion(s) containing the geographic features to maintain smooth andcontinuous boundaries to neighboring image tiles or other featureregions. Such techniques may maintain the updated geographic featureposition. The translation vectors 560 and 562 may be analyzed todetermine a best fit in aligning the base map with the updatedgeographic feature positions. For instance, simultaneous locating andmapping (SLAM) algorithms, Kalman filters, neural network or likemachine learning, bundle adjustment algorithms, particle filteringalgorithms, averaging, scale invariant feature transform (SIFT), randomsample consensus (RANSAC), or the like algorithms or techniques may beapplied to a number of translation vectors, each having a magnitude anddirection, to determine a geographic update translation 570 for the basemap 510 position. Once updated, additional geographic features withinthe base map 510 may be identified that may correlate to geographicfeatures within additional maps such as map 580. For instance, theupdated map area 520 may include detailed and high resolution images ofeach geographic feature 540 and 542 that may be used to determine thegeographic map update for a larger scale base map 510. Likewise, variousgeographic features within in the base map 510, such as feature 585, maycorrelate to that within map 580. The map 580 may, in some embodiments,be of larger scale than the base map 510. A geographic map updatetranslation 590 may be determined to align the map 580 based on feature585 position within the base map 510. In some embodiments, imagery fromthe updated map 520, base map 510, and/or map 580 may be merged into theupdated map 520, base map 510, and/or map 580. For instance, the highresolution and detailed updated map 520 images may be merged into thebase map 510 and/or map 580.

Turning to FIG. 6 , a geographic map updating system 600 may include abase map element 610 having at least one geographic feature 640 acorresponding to a geographic feature 640 on the Earth's surface 620.Within geographic map updating system 600, the base map 610 may be adigital map accessed via one or more computing devices such as computingdevice 665. The computing device 665 illustrated in FIG. 6 is a laptopcomputer. In other embodiments in keeping with the present disclosure, ageographic map updating system may include various other computingdevices including but not limited to tablets, smart phones, personalcomputers, utility locating system devices and/or other computingdevices for storing and/or processing geographic feature and map data.The base map 610 may be stored locally on computing device 665 and/ormay be stored in a remote server or like cloud based computing system. Ageographic update for base map 610 may be determined wherein theposition difference of a measured reference point 650 b on a geographicfeature 640 b differs to that of a reference point 650 a of acorresponding geographic feature 640 a within the base map 610. Theupdated geographic feature 640 b position may be determined via anupdate element wherein the geographic feature 640 is identified on theEarth's surface 620 and it's position is determined via reference point650. For instance, within geographic map updating system 600 of FIG. 6the user 670 may identify geographic feature 640 having a referencepoint 650. The geographic feature 640 may be measured at reference point650 resulting in a reference point 650 b measurement of geographicfeature 640 b. For instance, within the system 600 illustrated in FIG. 6, the user 670 may measure the position of reference point 650 ongeographic feature 640 by aiming a tracked distance measuring device 675at reference point 650. The tracked distance measuring device 675 may beof the variety disclosed in the incorporated U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/866,360, filed Jan. 9, 2018, entitled TRACKED DISTANCEMEASURING DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS. When actuated, the trackeddistance measuring device 675 may measure a distance to reference point650 on geographic feature 640 and, by communicating position data with aglobal navigation satellite system, such as GPS backpack device 680,determine the position of the reference point 650 and thereby geographicfeature 640. The GPS backpack device 680 may be of the variety describedin the incorporated U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/851,951, filedMar. 31, 2012, entitled DUAL ANTENNA SYSTEMS WITH VARIABLE POLARIZATIONand U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/214,151, filed Mar. 29, 2013,entitled DUAL ANTENNA SYSTEMS WITH VARIABLE POLARIZATION. In someembodiments, photographs, video, and/or other imagery of the geographicfeature, such as geographic feature 640, and surrounding environment maybe generated. For instance, within the system 600 illustrated in FIG. 6, the imagery may be generated by a smart phone 685 on tracked distancemeasuring device 675 and/or an unmanned aerial vehicle, such as drone690, and/or other like device for generating geographic feature imagery.The updated geographic feature 640 b reference point 650 b positiondata, as well as any generated geographic feature imagery, may becommunicated to one or more computing devices such as the computingdevice 665. For instance, a wireless signal 695 (e.g., using WIFI,Bluetooth, or other wireless technologies or protocols) may communicateupdated geographic feature 640 b reference point 650 b position databetween tracked distance measuring device 675, GPS backpack device 680,and/or smart phone 685 and computing device 665. Within a processingelement, such as that which may be present within computing device 665,correlation of the measured and photographed geographic feature 640 b tothe corresponding geographic feature 640 a within base map 610 mayoccur. For instance, pattern recognition or other machine learningalgorithms or like techniques and algorithms may be used to determinecorrelating geographic features within base map 610. The updatedposition data of reference point 650 b on geographic feature 640 b maygenerate a translation vector 660 translating image tile 630 a to imagetile 630 b position. In some embodiments, the translated image tiles,such as image tile 630 a, may instead be other feature regions.Rubber-sheeting and/or other like techniques (not illustrated) may beused to distort the boundaries of the image tile 630 b or other featureregions allowing the one or more translated image tiles 630 b or otherfeature regions to seamlessly adjoin with neighboring image tiles orother feature regions while maintaining the positional accuracy of theupdated geographic features. The resulting updated image tile 630 b orother updated feature region and associated map data and images may beprocessed and/or stored locally on computing device 665 and/or uploadedto a remote server or other cloud based computing system. The updatedgeographic feature 640 b data and related map data may further becommunicated to other computing devices.

In keeping with the present disclosure, some geographic map updatingsystem embodiments may include various utility locating, mapping, andgeographic feature identification systems and devices. As illustrated inFIG. 7 , a utility locating, mapping, and geographic featureidentification system 700 may include a tracked distance measuringdevice 775 as held by a user 770 aimed towards a reference point 750 ona geographic feature 740. The tracked distance measuring device 775 mayidentify and generate position data for the reference point 750 ongeographic feature 740. The tracked distance measuring device 775 andassociated system devices may be of the variety as described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/866,360, filed Jan. 9, 2018, entitledTRACKED DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS. As the user770 actuates the tracked distance measuring device 775 to identifygeographic feature 740 and measure the distance to reference point 750,the tracked distance measuring device 775 may generate one or moredipole signals that may be measured at a utility locator device 765 todetermine the location and pose of the tracked distance measuring device775 in three dimensional space. The utility locator device 765 may be ofthe variety described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/866,360,filed Jan. 9, 2018, entitled TRACKED DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES,SYSTEMS, AND METHODS and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/360,979,filed Nov. 25, 2016, entitled UTILITY LOCATING SYSTEMS, DEVICES, ANDMETHODS USING RADIO BROADCAST SIGNALS; as well as the utility locatorand associated devices and systems described in the above incorporatedapplications. The utility locator device 765 may include GPS or likeglobal satellite navigation systems as well as optical or inertialmotion tracking devices such as the optical ground tracking device 766for optically determining the positional movements of the utilitylocator device 765 along the Earth's surface 720. The optical groundtracking device 766 illustrated in FIG. 7 may be of the variety anddescribed within the incorporated U.S. Pat. No. 9,841,503, issued Dec.12, 2017, entitled OPTICAL GROUND TRACKING APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, ANDMETHODS. The position element of system 700 may further include a GPSbackpack device 780 worn by user 770, may be used to determine or refinethe geographic location of utility locator device 765 on the Earth'ssurface and, thereby, the position and pose of the tracked distancemeasuring device 775. The GPS backpack device 780 may be of the varietydescribed in the incorporated U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/851,951, filed Mar. 31, 2012, entitled DUAL ANTENNA SYSTEMS WITHVARIABLE POLARIZATION and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/214,151,filed Mar. 29, 2013, entitled DUAL ANTENNA SYSTEMS WITH VARIABLEPOLARIZATION. The GPS backpack device 780 may include GNSS antennas andassociated circuitry to determine refined position data as well astransceiver antennas and associated circuitry to broadcast one or moredipole signals measured at the utility locator device 765 and to sendand receive wireless communication to and from the utility locatordevice 765, tracked distance measuring device 775, transmitter device790, and/or other system devices. As described in the incorporated U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/866,360, filed Jan. 9, 2018, entitledTRACKED DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS, the positionof reference point 750 of geographic feature 740 along the Earth'ssurface 720 may be calculated and used to generate a geographic updatefor the base map 710 of the area. For instance, the base map 710 mayindicate a reference point 750 a position for geographic feature 740 a.Upon determining the updated reference point 750 b position for thegeographic feature 740 b, as determined with the utility locating,mapping, and geographic feature identification system 700, thegeographic feature 740 b may be correlated to geographic feature 740 awithin the base map 710. For instance, a photograph and/or other imageof geographic feature 740 may be generated upon measuring the referencepoint 750 b position through imagers on smart phone 785, within trackeddistance measuring device 775, optical ground tracking device 766,utility locator device 765, and/or other system device. The geographicfeature 740 images may be matched to that within base map 710 throughpattern recognition or other machine learning algorithms. A translationvector 760 may be determined by finding the distance and direction fromreference point 750 a on geographic feature 740 a original described inbase map 710 to the measured reference point 750 b on geographic feature740 b. Ann update may thereby be generated wherein all points within theimage tile 730 a containing the geographic feature 740 a may betranslated along translation vector 760 to the image tile 730 b. In someembodiments, the translated image tiles, such as image tile 730 a, mayinstead be other feature regions. Rubber-sheeting and/or other liketechniques (not illustrated) may be used to distort the boundaries ofthe image tile 730 b or other feature regions allowing the one or moretranslated image tiles 730 b or other feature regions to seamlesslyadjoin with neighboring image tiles or other feature regions whilemaintaining the positional accuracy of the updated geographic features.Processing and storing of position and other related map or other datamay occur within the utility locator device 765, GPS backpack device780, transmitter device 790, tracked distance measuring device 775and/or smartphone 785 or other computing device, and/or may be processedand stored within a remote server or other cloud based computing system.The utility locator device 765 may also measure magnetic signal(s) 796emitted by one or more utility lines 795 for the purposes of determiningand mapping the one or more utilities 795 buried within the ground. Theutility locating and mapping data may include location and orientationof the utility line as well as the pose of the utility line within theground, the depth of the utility line, utility type, and the like. Asillustrated in FIG. 7 , the signal(s) 796 may be generated by and becoupled to utility line 795 via transmitter device 790. In someembodiments, the signals emitted by a buried utility may be coupledthereto from various other active sources (e.g., inherent withinelectric lines or coupled thereto by a connected transmitting device)and/or passive sources (e.g., coupled to the utility through broadcastradio signals or like ambient signal generating sources).

Turning to FIG. 8A, a method 800 is described for using utility locatingand mapping data to create a geographic update for maps of the samearea. In a first step 801, a utility locating and mapping procedure isperformed wherein one or more geographic features are identified and thepositions are determined via a reference point on each geographicfeature. Such systems and methods for generating utility locating andmapping data as well as geographic feature data may be found in theincorporated U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/866,360, filed Jan. 9,2018, entitled TRACKED DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS.Exemplary systems and devices for carrying out step 801 may, likewise,be described within the utility locating, mapping, and geographicfeature identification system 700 illustrated in FIG. 7 . For instance,a user equipped with a utility locator device, such as the utilitylocator device 765 of FIG. 7 , may walk about an area and measure andmap utility data. A user may also identify various geographic featureswithin the locate area. The user may be equipped with a tracked distancemeasuring device, which may be a tracked distance measuring device 775as illustrated in FIG. 7 , for identifying and determining the positionof a reference point on one or more geographic features. In such autility locating and mapping operation, geographic features maygenerally be mapped to identify elements within the locate area that mayinfluence magnetic data measured by the utility locator device.Optionally, the utility locating, mapping, and geographic featureidentification system may photograph or otherwise generate imagery ofthe one or more geographic features. Such geographic features mayfurther be found within a base map covering the same area in order toupdate and refine the geographic location of the map relative to theEarth's surface. Correlating of geographic features within a base map tothose identified during the utility locating and mapping operation mayinclude the use of pattern recognition or other machine learningalgorithms or like techniques and algorithms to determine coincidinggeographic features within the base map. In a step 802, utility locatingand geographic feature data gathered in step 801 may be processed. Theprocessing element or elements for carrying out the data processing forstep 802 may, in part or in full, be included within a utility locatordevice (e.g., utility locator device 765 of FIG. 7 ), tracked distancemeasuring device (e.g., tracked distance measuring device 775 of FIG. 7), a computing device such as a smartphone (e.g., smartphone 785 of FIG.7 ) or laptop (e.g., computing device 665 of FIG. 6 ), and/or othercomputing device or system device (e.g., system device 900 of FIG. 9 )capable of receiving and processing the utility locating and mappingdata as well as geographic feature data. Likewise, processing of datamay occur within a remote server or other cloud based computing system.The processing may occur in real time or near real time and/or fully orpartially occur in a post processing procedure in one or more devices.In a step 803, differences in reference point location(s) of eachgeographic feature from step 801 to one or more correlating geographicfeature reference point location(s) within the base map of the same areamay be calculated to determine one or more translation vectors for eachgeographic feature update. In a step 804, the image tile(s) or otherfeature region(s) containing the geographic feature within the base mapmay be updated based the corresponding one or more translation vectorsfrom step 803. In a step 805, the utility locating and mapping data maybe indexed with the updated geographic feature position data and/orotherwise within the updated base map. In a step 806, rubber-sheetingand/or other like techniques may be used to distort the boundaries ofthe image tile(s) or other feature region(s) allowing the one or moretranslated image tiles to seamlessly adjoin with neighboring image tilesor other feature regions while maintaining the positional accuracy ofthe updated geographic features. In a step 807, a geographic map updatefor the base map may be determined using the method 300 of FIG. 3A ormethod 400 of FIG. 4A. In some embodiments, the utility locating mapimagery and data, including the location of utility therein, mayoptionally be merged into the base map. In a step 808, store andoptionally display the updated base map and/or utility locating map andrelated data.

As illustrated in FIG. 8B, the utility locating map 820 may be generatedin which a number of geographic features 840, 842, and 844 positions aredetermined correlating to geographic features 840, 842, and 844 within abase map 810 of the same area. Utility line locations and/or otherrelated utility data, such as utility line 825, may be included withinthe utility locating map 820. Based on the geographic features 840, 842,and 844 positions within the utility locating map 820, translationvectors 860, 862, and 864 may be determined to update image tiles 830 orother feature regions. Rubber-sheeting and/or other like techniques (notillustrated) may be used to distort the boundaries of the image tiles830 or, in other embodiments, other feature regions containinggeographic features 840, 842, and 844 allowing the one or moretranslated image tiles 830 or other feature regions to seamlessly adjoinwith neighboring image tiles 830 or other feature regions. Thetranslation vectors 860, 862, and 864 may be analyzed to determine abest fit in aligning the base map 810 with the updated geographicfeature 840, 842, and 844 positions. For instance, simultaneous locatingand mapping (SLAM) algorithms, Kalman filters, neural network or likemachine learning, bundle adjustment algorithms, particle filteringalgorithms, averaging, scale invariant feature transform (SIFT), randomsample consensus (RANSAC), or the like algorithms or techniques may beapplied to a number of translation vectors, each having a magnitude anddirection, to determine a geographic update translation 870 for the basemap 810 position. Processing of data may occur within one or moreprocessing elements within one or more system devices. For instance,computing devices may be included within a utility locator device,smartphone, tablet, laptop, remote server or other cloud based computer,tracked distance measuring device, and/or various other utility locatingdevices or other computing devices.

As illustrated in FIG. 9 , an exemplary system device 900 may include atransceiver element 910 for sending or receiving various types of data.The transceiver element 910 may be or include WIFI, Bluetooth, ISM,and/or other wireless modules or systems and associated circuitry forwirelessly sending and receiving data. In some embodiments thetransceiver element 910 may include a wired connection to send andreceive such data. In further embodiments, such as with a utilitylocator device, the transceiver element 910 may include antennas andcircuitry to measure magnetic signals emitted by utility lines and/orother conductors. The transceiver element 910 may receive various typesof data including geographic feature identification and position data920, utility locating and mapping data 930, and base map data 940 whichmay further be communicated to one or more processing elements 950 forgenerating updated maps and correlating utility locating and mappingdata therewith. The processing element(s) 950 may be or may include asingle processor, or multiple processors, all of which could includemultiple computing elements. The processor elements(s) may beimplemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers,microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units,state machines, logic circuitries, field-programmable gate array (FGPA),and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operationalinstructions. Among other capabilities, the processor element(s) may beconfigured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions and datastored in the memory, such as memory 960. In some embodiments, base mapdata 940 may preemptively be stored within memory 960 prior to receivinggeographic feature identification and position data 920 and/or utilitylocating and mapping system data 930. The memory 960 may include anycomputer-readable medium known in the art including, for example,volatile memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM), and/or non-volatile memory, such as readonly memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM, flash memories, harddisks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes. Likewise, such exemplarymemory may be included in external data storage element(s) 980 and/orother external device(s) 990 which may access the data of system device900. Optionally, system device 900 may include a display 970 fordisplaying maps or other data to a user. Likewise, such maps andassociated data may be communicated to one or more external devices 990for display and use of such data.

In some geographic map updating embodiments of the present disclosure,the image tiles or other feature regions of the base map may translateto updated data positions while in other embodiments the updated datamay translate to the base map positions. As used herein, “updated data”may refer to the data relating to the updated geolocation of ageographic feature or reference point that may differ to thecorresponding geographic feature or reference point in the base map. Theembodiments wherein the base map is translated to the updated data, suchas illustrated with FIG. 10A, an updated map may be generated havingenhanced accuracy. In other embodiments wherein the updated data istranslated to the base map, such as illustrated with FIG. 10B, theresulting updated map may allow a user a visual sense of the updateddata locations relative to geographic features in the base map withouthaving to manipulate the base map. In such embodiments, the translationof updated data may be visual only and metadata or other data relatingto the updated data may be preserved. For instance, where the updateddata includes utility positions in the ground, the user may benefit fromgaining a visual sense of the utilities locations relative to knowngeographic features while the world coordinates of the utilities mayremain untranslated.

Turning to FIG. 10A, a base map 1020 may indicate an initial locationfor a geographic feature 1022 a with an initial reference point 1024 ain a feature region 1026 a. The base map 1020 may comprise a series ofcontiguous satellite or other aerial photographs or image tilesseamlessly joined together or other feature regions, such as featureregion 1026 a, that may represent the Earth's surface. Updated data 1026b, including a revised a geographic feature 1022 b position measured atan updated reference point 1024 b, may be determined (e.g., through autility locating and mapping procedure or other mapping procedure). Atranslation vector 1030 may be determined between the initial referencepoint 1024 a position and the updated reference point 1024 b position.The feature region 1026 a containing the geographic feature 1022 a maytranslate to the updated geographic feature 1022 b location alongtranslation vector 1030. The resulting updated map may have improvedaccuracy over the original base map.

Turning to FIG. 10B, a base map 1040 may indicate an initial locationfor a geographic feature 1042 a with an initial reference point 1044 ain a feature region 1046 a. Updated data 1046 b including a geographicfeature 1042 b measured at an updated reference point 1044 b may bedetermined. A translation vector 1050 may be determined between theupdated reference point 1044 b position and the initial reference point1044 a in the feature region 1046 a of the base map 1040. The updateddata 1046 b including the geographic feature 1042 b may translate alongtranslation vector 1050 to the geographic feature 1042 a location. Thetranslation of updated data 1046 b to the original geographic feature1042 b of the base map 1040 may result in an updated map where a usermay visually identify the location of geographic features but other dataof the updated data 1046 b (e.g., utility line positions existingbeneath the ground or like data) may retain their original worldcoordinates. By retaining their original coordinates, a user mayvisually be informed of the updated data location relative to thegeographic features on the base map while having access to their preciselocation through GPS or other world coordinate location data.

Turning to FIG. 11 , an exemplary utility map 1100 is illustratedestimative of utility line positions and locations below the Earth'ssurface. The utility map 1100 may, for instance, utilize the methods andsystems disclosed in the incorporated U.S. Provisional PatentApplication 62/777,045, filed Dec. 7, 2018, entitled MAP GENERATIONBASED ON UTILITY LINE POSITION AND ORIENTATION ESTIMATES, the content ofwhich is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In FIG. 11 ,the utility map 1100 may comprise a map 1110 of a geographical regioncontaining a series of line segments 1120. Each line segment 1120 may beestimative of a utility line location at a point on the Earth's surfaceas measured at a discrete point. In some such utility map embodimentseach segment, such as segments 1120, may be color coded according toaspects of the geographic location associated with the discrete point ofutility line position and orientation estimation. For instance, theselected color of each line segment 1120 may reference measured signalstrength, current, phase, a utility position and orientation estimatingdevice velocity, and/or depth of utility. For example, the line segmentlength may be proportional to data collection velocity and/or theopacity of each line segment may correspond to a quality metric of thedata. Various other characteristics of each line segment may likewise bealtered to communicate information regarding the geographic locationassociated with the discrete point of utility line position andorientation estimation which may include details regarding the utilityline at that location. Line segment color or saturation, line width orlength, pattern or styling of line, and/or opacity may all be changed tocommunicate such information. In other utility map embodiments, theutility line positions and orientations may be represented in variousother ways.

The location and position of utility lines represented in a utility map,such as segments 1120 of utility map 1100 in FIG. 11 , may be indexed togeographic features in the same utility map. In some embodiments,utility line locations and positions may be indexed in a base map invarious ways. For instance, utility data may be represented using themethod 1200 of FIG. 12A or method 1300 of FIG. 13A or using the variousother methods described herein wherein the utility line position andother data may be indexed to the base map or indexed to the geographicfeature locations or the updated data.

Turning to FIG. 12A, a method 1200 is disclosed having a step 1202 inwhich a utility locating and mapping procedure is performed wherein oneor more geographic features are identified and the positions aredetermined via a reference point on each geographic feature. Suchsystems and methods for generating utility locating and mapping data aswell as geographic feature data may be found in the incorporated U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/866,360, filed Jan. 9, 2018, entitledTRACKED DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS. Exemplarysystems and devices for carrying out step 1202 may, likewise, bedescribed within the utility locating, mapping, and geographic featureidentification system 700 illustrated in FIG. 7 . For instance, a userequipped with a utility locator device, such as the utility locatordevice 765 of FIG. 7 , may walk about an area and measure and maputility data. A user may also identify various geographic featureswithin the locate area. The user may be equipped with a tracked distancemeasuring device, which may be a tracked distance measuring device 775as illustrated in FIG. 7 , for identifying and determining the positionof a reference point on one or more geographic features. In such autility locating and mapping operation, geographic features maygenerally be mapped to identify elements within the locate area that mayinfluence magnetic data measured by the utility locator device.Optionally, the utility locating, mapping, and geographic featureidentification system may photograph or otherwise generate imagery ofthe one or more geographic features. Such geographic features mayfurther be found within a base map covering the same area in order toupdate and refine the geographic location of the map relative to theEarth's surface. Correlating of geographic features within a base map tothose identified during the utility locating and mapping operation mayinclude the use of pattern recognition or other machine learningalgorithms or like techniques and algorithms to determine coincidinggeographic features within the base map. In a step 1204, utilitylocating and geographic feature data gathered in step 1202 may beprocessed. The processing element or elements for carrying out the dataprocessing for step 1204 may, in part or in full, be included within autility locator device (e.g., utility locator device 765 of FIG. 7 ),tracked distance measuring device (e.g., tracked distance measuringdevice 775 of FIG. 7 ), a computing device such as a smartphone (e.g.,smartphone 785 of FIG. 7 ) or laptop (e.g., computing device 665 of FIG.6 ), and/or other computing device or system device (e.g., system device900 of FIG. 9 ) capable of receiving and processing the utility locatingand mapping data as well as geographic feature data. Likewise,processing of data may occur within a remote server or other cloud basedcomputing system. The processing may occur in real time or near realtime and/or fully or partially occur in a post processing procedure inone or more devices. In a step 1206, translation vectors may bedetermined based on differences in reference point positions ofgeographic features in the base map to correlating reference pointpositions measured in the utility locating and mapping procedure. In astep 1208, the image tiles or other feature regions containing thegeographic features of the base map may be translated according to thetranslation vectors of step 1206. In a step 1210, rubber-sheeting and/orother like techniques may be used to distort the boundaries of the imagetile(s) or other feature region(s) allowing the one or more translatedimage tiles or feature regions to seamlessly adjoin with neighboringimage tiles or feature regions while maintaining the positional accuracyof the updated geographic features. In a step 1212, an updated utilitymap may be stored or optionally displayed based on the translatedfeatures and utility positions and related data. The method 1200 may becarried out in post processing where the data has been stored in adatabase or may be done in real time or near real time and displayed ona locator display, laptop, smart phone, and/or other computing device.

The translation of geographic features of a base map based on updatedgeographic feature locations via utility locating and mapping proceduredata of method 1200 of FIG. 12A is further illustrated in the sequenceof FIGS. 12B-12E.

As illustrated in FIG. 12B, a base map 1220 may indicate an initiallocation for a geographic feature 1222 a with an initial reference point1224 a in a feature region 1226 a. The base map 1220 may comprise aseries of contiguous satellite or other aerial photographs or imagetiles seamlessly joined together or other feature regions, such asfeature region 1226 a, that may represent the Earth's surface.

Turning to FIG. 12C, during a utility locating and mapping procedure,updated data 1226 b for a geographic feature 1222 b with an updatedreference point 1224 b is determined which may have utility linepositions and other utility data indexed thereto. The utility lineposition and related utility data is represented by a series of linesegments 1230 in FIG. 12C.

Turning to FIG. 12D, a translation vector 1240 may be determined betweenthe initial reference point 1224 a position and the updated referencepoint 1224 b position determined by the utility locating and mappingprocedure. The feature region 1226 a containing the geographic feature1222 a may translate to the updated geographic feature 1222 b locationdetermined during the utility locating and mapping procedure.

Turning to FIG. 12E, a utility map 1250 may be generated and optionallydisplayed and/or stored based on the image of the geographic feature1222 a translated to the updated geographic feature 1222 b location ofupdated data 1226 b (illustrated as the alignment of geographic feature1222 a/b in FIG. 12E). The utility position and other utility dataremaining in place according to its determined location via the utilitylocating and mapping procedure. The resulting utility map 1250 mayprovide for a map with improved accuracy while displaying the utilitypositions.

Turning to FIG. 13A, a method 1300 is disclosed having a step 1302 inwhich a utility locating and mapping procedure is performed wherein oneor more geographic features are identified and the positions aredetermined via a reference point on each geographic feature. Suchsystems and methods for generating utility locating and mapping data aswell as geographic feature data may be found in the incorporated U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/866,360, filed Jan. 9, 2018, entitledTRACKED DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS. Exemplarysystems and devices for carrying out step 1302 may, likewise, bedescribed within the utility locating, mapping, and geographic featureidentification system 700 illustrated in FIG. 7 . For instance, a userequipped with a utility locator device, such as the utility locatordevice 765 of FIG. 7 , may walk about an area and measure and maputility data. A user may also identify various geographic featureswithin the locate area. The user may be equipped with a tracked distancemeasuring device, which may be a tracked distance measuring device 775as illustrated in FIG. 7 , for identifying and determining the positionof a reference point on one or more geographic features. In such autility locating and mapping operation, geographic features maygenerally be mapped to identify elements within the locate area that mayinfluence magnetic data measured by the utility locator device.Optionally, the utility locating, mapping, and geographic featureidentification system may photograph or otherwise generate imagery ofthe one or more geographic features. Such geographic features mayfurther be found within a base map covering the same area in order toupdate and refine the geographic location of the map relative to theEarth's surface. Correlating of geographic features within a base map tothose identified during the utility locating and mapping operation mayinclude the use of pattern recognition or other machine learningalgorithms or like techniques and algorithms to determine coincidinggeographic features within the base map. In a step 1304, utilitylocating and geographic feature data gathered in step 1302 may beprocessed. The processing element or elements for carrying out the dataprocessing for step 1304 may, in part or in full, be included within autility locator device (e.g., utility locator device 765 of FIG. 7 ),tracked distance measuring device (e.g., tracked distance measuringdevice 775 of FIG. 7 ), a computing device such as a smartphone (e.g.,smartphone 785 of FIG. 7 ) or laptop (e.g., computing device 665 of FIG.6 ), and/or other computing device or system device (e.g., system device900 of FIG. 9 ) capable of receiving and processing the utility locatingand mapping data as well as geographic feature data. Likewise,processing of data may occur within a remote server or other cloud basedcomputing system. The processing may occur in real time or near realtime and/or fully or partially occur in a post processing procedure inone or more devices. In a step 1306, translation vectors may bedetermined based on differences in reference point positions measured inthe utility locating and mapping procedure to correlating referencepoint positions of geographic features in the base map. In a step 1308,the image tiles or other feature regions containing the geographicfeatures of the utility locating and mapping procedure and indexedutility positions may be translated according to the translation vectorsof step 1306. In a step 1310, rubber-sheeting and/or other liketechniques may be used to distort the boundaries of the image tile(s) orother feature region(s) allowing the one or more translated image tilesor feature regions to seamlessly adjoin with neighboring image tiles orfeature regions while maintaining the positional accuracy of the updatedgeographic features. In a step 1312, an updated utility map may bestored or optionally displayed based on the translated features andutility positions and related data. The method 1300 may be carried outin post processing where the data has been stored in a database or maybe done in real time or near real time and displayed on a locatordisplay, laptop, smart phone, and/or other computing device.

The translation of geographic features of a base map based on updatedgeographic feature locations via utility locating and mapping proceduredata of method 1300 of FIG. 13A is further illustrated in the sequenceof FIGS. 13B-13E.

As illustrated in FIG. 13B, a base map 1320 may indicate an initiallocation for a geographic feature 1322 a with an initial reference point1324 a in a feature region 1326 a. The base map 1320 may comprise aseries of contiguous satellite or other aerial photographs or imagetiles seamlessly joined together or other feature regions, such asfeature region 1326 a, that may represent the Earth's surface.

Turning to FIG. 13C, during a utility locating and mapping procedure,updated data 1326 b for a geographic feature 1322 b with an updatedreference point 1324 b is determined which may have utility linepositions and other utility data indexed thereto. The utility lineposition and related utility data is represented by a series of linesegments 1330 in FIG. 13C.

Turning to FIG. 13D, a translation vector 1340 may be determined betweenthe updated reference point 1324 b position determined by the utilitylocating and mapping procedure and the initial reference point 1324 a inthe feature region 1326 a of the base map 1320. The updated data 1326 bincluding the geographic feature 1322 b and indexed line segments 1330representative of utility line positions may translate along translationvector 1340 to the geographic feature 1322 a location.

Turning to FIG. 13E, a utility map 1350 may be generated and optionallydisplayed and/or stored based on the image of the updated geographicfeature 1322 b and indexed utility line positions represented by linesegments 1330 of updated data 1326 b translated to the initialgeographic feature 1322 a position (illustrated as the alignment ofgeographic feature 1322 a/b in FIG. 13E). In such utility mappingembodiments, GPS or other geolocation data associated with the updateddata 1326 b, including the line segments 1330 representative of utilityline positions, may be preserved when the image of the updated data 1326b is translated. The translation of utility line data of the updateddata 1326 b to the original geographic feature 1322 a of the base map1320 may result in a utility map 1350 where a user may visually identifythe location of utility lines existing beneath the ground relative togeographic features on the base map while the GPS or other worldcoordinate location data of the utilities may be preserved.

Turning to FIG. 14A, a method 1400 is described for map updating whereinthe reference point exists in a physically separate location from ageographic feature. In a first step 1402, the position of a referencepoint is determined. For instance, the position of the reference pointmay be established via GPS or other global navigation satellite systems,LIDAR, inertial sensors, laser rangefinding devices, and/or otherpositioning systems. In some embodiments, such as in some embodimentsemploying utility locating and mapping devices and systems which mayinclude vehicle-mounted locating devices and systems of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/497,040, filed Apr. 25, 2017, entitled SYSTEMSAND METHODS FOR LOCATING AND/OR MAPPING BURIED UTILITIES USINGVEHICLE-MOUNTED LOCATING DEVICES of the incorporated applications, thereference point may be established at intervals despite the knownpresence of a geographic feature. In a step 1404, the position of ageographic feature may be determined relative to the known position ofthe reference point in the updated data. For instance, knowing the tiltand scale of the updated data, the position of the geographic featurerelative to the reference point may be calculated. In a step 1406, basedon the position difference between the geographic feature and referencepoint of the updated data, the predicted position of a correspondingreference point in the base map may be determined. For instance, thesame direction and distance between geographic feature and referencepoint of the updated data may be scaled and applied to the base map topredict the location of the reference point in the base map. In a step1408, a translation vector between the reference point position of theupdated data and the reference point of the base map is calculated. Insome embodiments, the translation vector may be calculated betweencorresponding geographic features in the base map and updated data. Thetranslation vectors may run from base map to updated data or fromupdated data to the base map depending on the desired resulting map. Ina step 1410, the image tile(s) or other feature regions containing thegeographic feature may be translated. In some embodiments, the updateddata may translate to align with the base map. This may be a translationof all updated data or a translation of just visual information whereinthe world coordinates and other metadata is preserved. For instance, autility locating procedure may translate visual data, including utilitypositions, to corresponding locations of a pre-existing base map,allowing for a readily generated map where a user may visually identifythe location of utility lines existing beneath the ground relative tobase map geographic features while the GPS or other world coordinatelocation data of the utilities are preserved. In other embodiments, thefeature regions of the base map may translate to the updated data. Suchembodiments may result in maps having improved accuracy. In a step 1412,rubber-sheeting and/or other like techniques may be used to distort theboundaries of the image tile(s) or other feature region(s) allowing theone or more translated image tiles or feature regions to seamlesslyadjoin with neighboring image tiles or feature regions. In a step 1414,an updated map and associated data may be stored or optionallydisplayed.

The translation of geographic features of a base map based on updatedgeographic feature locations using method 1400 of FIG. 14A is furtherillustrated in the sequence of FIGS. 14B-14E.

As illustrated in FIG. 14B, a base map 1420 may indicate an initiallocation for a geographic feature 1422 a in a feature region 1426 a. Thebase map 1420 may comprise a series of contiguous satellite or otheraerial photographs or image tiles seamlessly joined together or otherfeature regions, such as feature region 1426 a, that may represent theEarth's surface.

Turning to FIG. 14C, updated data 1426 b may be determined wherein areference point 1424 b is established having known position on theEarth's surface. For instance, a utility locating and mapping devicewhich may be a vehicle-mounted locating device may periodicallydetermine a precise location of a reference point along the Earth'ssurface. The reference point 1424 b may be a known distance anddirection towards a geographic feature 1422 b in the updated data 1426b. The updated geographic feature 1422 b may further correspond to ageographic feature 1422 a of the base map 1420. Wherein the scale andtilt of the updated data 1426 b is known relative to the base map 1420,the known distance and direction from the geographic feature 1422 a maybe used to predict the location of a corresponding reference point 1424a in base map 1420.

Turning to FIG. 14D, a translation vector 1440 may be determined betweenthe predicted reference point 1424 a position and the updated referencepoint 1424 b and/or between the base map 1420 geographic feature 1422 aand the updated data 1426 b geographic feature 1422 b allowing thefeature region 1426 a to translate to the updated data 1426 b position.In other embodiments, the translation vectors 1440 may be reversed suchthat the updated data 1426 b may visually or fully translate to align tothe predicted reference point 1424 a and geographic feature 1422 alocations.

Turning to FIG. 14E, an updated map 1450 may be generated and optionallydisplayed and/or stored based on the translation of the feature region1426 a or, in other embodiments, the translation of the updated data1426 b.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions, methods andprocesses described herein may be implemented in whole or in part inhardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implementedin software, the functions may be stored on or encoded as one or moreinstructions or code on a non-transitory processor-readable medium andmay be executed in one or more processing elements. Processor-readablemedia includes computer storage media. Storage media may be anyavailable media that can be accessed by a computer, processor, or otherprogrammable digital device.

By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media caninclude RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium thatcan be used to carry or store desired program code in the form ofinstructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps or stagesin the processes and methods disclosed are examples of exemplaryapproaches. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that thespecific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes may be rearrangedwhile remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. Any methodclaims may present elements of the various steps in a sample order, andare not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presentedunless explicitly noted.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented aselectronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. Toclearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software,various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and stepsmay have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or softwaredepends upon the particular application and design constraints imposedon the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the describedfunctionality in varying ways for each particular application, but suchimplementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processes, methods,and/or circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented or performed in a processing element with ageneral purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A generalpurpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, theprocessor may be any conventional processor, controller,microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implementedas a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP anda microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps or stages of a method, process or algorithm described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodieddirectly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, orin a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory,flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, harddisk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage mediumknown in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to theprocessor such that the processor can read information from, and writeinformation to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storagemedium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storagemedium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal orother device. In the alternative, the processor and the storage mediummay reside as discrete components. Instructions to be read and executedby a processing element to implement the various methods, processes, andalgorithms disclosed herein may be stored in a memory or memories of thedevices disclosed herein.

The scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to the aspectsshown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with thedisclosures herein and their equivalents, wherein reference to anelement in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one”unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” Unlessspecifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. Aphrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to anycombination of those items, including single members. As an example, “atleast one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a andc; b and c; and a, b and c.

It is noted that as used herein that the terms “component,” “unit,”“element,” or other singular terms may refer to two or more of thosemembers. For example, a “component” may comprise multiple components.Moreover, the terms “component,” “unit,” “element,” or other descriptiveterms may be used to describe a general feature or function of a groupof components, units, elements, or other items. For example, an “RFIDunit” may refer to the primary function of the unit, but the physicalunit may include non-RFID components, sub-units, and such.

The previous description of the disclosed aspects is provided to enableany person skilled in the art to make or use embodiments of thepresently claimed invention. Various modifications to these aspects willbe readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the genericprinciples defined herein may be applied to other aspects withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, thepresently claimed invention is not intended to be limited solely to theaspects shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistentwith the disclosures herein, the associated drawings, and theirequivalents as reflected by the claims.

We claim:
 1. A geographic map updating system, comprising: a base mapelement, including a data representation of an area displaying featuresthereof; and an update element, comprising: a geographic featureidentification element, to identify geographic features coinciding withthose of the base map element; a position element for determining aposition of the identified geographic features based on providedpositional data; a processing element for comparing the base map elementand the update element to determine and generate an updated map; anon-transitory electronic data storage element for storing the base mapelement data, update element data, and corresponding updated map data,wherein the update element includes a dipole tracked distance measuringsystem, comprising: a signal tracking device, comprising: one or moremagnetic field antenna arrays; one or more positioning elements fordetermining the location of a signal tracking element in threedimensional space; at least one processing element for processingreceived dipole signals and data signals from the signal trackingdevice; a data storage element for storing geographic feature locationdata and other signal data; and a tracked distance measuring device,comprising: a body; a rangefinder element for measuring distance to ageographic feature; an alternating current (AC) signal generator; amagnetic field dipole antenna; and an actuator for initiating generationof an electromagnetic signal in conjunction with measuring distance;wherein the electromagnetic dipole signal is generated in conjunctionwith measuring of a distance by the rangefinder element and whereininformation associated with a position of the tracked distance measuringdevice is determined in the at least one processing element of thesignal tracking element based on receiving and processing theelectromagnetic dipole signal in the one or more magnetic field antennaarrays.
 2. A geographic map updating system, comprising: a base mapelement, including a data representation of an area displaying featuresthereof; and an update element, comprising: a mapping buried utilitylocator including at least one processing element programmed to providea geographic feature identification element to identify geographicfeatures coinciding with those of the base map element, wherein thegeographic feature includes one or more of a manhole cover, anidentifiable street, a sidewalk, a direction arrow painted on a street,a painted street element, and an intersection between ground surfacessuch as asphalt, concrete, grass, dirt, or other like material; aposition element for determining a position of the identified geographicfeatures based on provided positional data; at least one processingelement for comparing the base map element and the update element todetermine and generate an updated map; and a non-transitory electronicdata storage element for storing data representations of the base mapelement, update element, and corresponding updated map; wherein theposition element includes a global navigation satellite system receiverfor providing the positional data to the position element.
 3. Ageographic map updating system, comprising: a base map element,including a data representation of an area displaying features thereof;and an update element, comprising: a mapping buried utility locatorincluding at least one processing element programmed to provide ageographic feature identification element to identify geographicfeatures coinciding with those of the base map element; a positionelement for determining a position of the identified geographic featuresbased on provided positional data; at least one processing element forcomparing the base map element and the update element to determine andgenerate an updated map; and a non-transitory electronic data storageelement for storing data representations of the base map element, updateelement, and corresponding updated map; wherein the position elementincludes an inertial navigation system for providing the positional datato the position element.
 4. A geographic map updating system,comprising: a base map element including a data representation of anarea displaying features thereof; and an update element, comprising: amapping buried utility locator including at least one processing elementprogrammed to provide a geographic feature identification element toidentify geographic features coinciding with those of the base mapelement; a position element for determining a position of the identifiedgeographic features based on provided positional data; at least, oneprocessing element for comparing the base map element and the updateelement to determine and generate an updated map; and a non-transitoryelectronic data storage element for storing data representations of thebase map element, update element, and corresponding updated map; whereinthe position element includes a rangefinder system for providing thepositional data to the position element.
 5. A geographic map updatingsystem, comprising: a base map element, including a data representationof an area displaying features thereof; and an update element,comprising: a mapping buried utility locator including at least oneprocessing element programmed to provide a geographic featureidentification element to identify geographic features coinciding withthose of the base map element; a position element for determining aposition of the identified geographic features based on providedpositional data; at least one processing element for comparing the basemap element and the update element to determine and generate an updatedmap; and a non-transitory electronic data storage element for storingdata representations of the base map element, update element, andcorresponding updated map; wherein the base map element includes one ormore satellite or other aerial photographic images, image tiles, orother feature regions organized so as to be joined together to representall or a portion of the Earth's surface.
 6. A geographic map updatingsystem, comprising: a base map element, including a data representationof an area displaying features thereof; and an update element,comprising: a mapping buried utility locator including at least oneprocessing element programmed to provide a geographic featureidentification element to identify geographic features coinciding withthose of the base map element; a position element for determining aposition of the identified geographic features based on providedpositional data; at least one processing element for comparing the basemap element and the update element to determine and generate an updatedmap; and a non-transitory electronic data storage element for storingdata representations of the base map element, update element, andcorresponding updated map; wherein the update element includes a mappingburied utility locator, comprising: a locator housing; a front endsubsystem, coupled to or disposed in the locator housing, comprising aplurality of magnetic field antenna arrays and a receiver circuitcoupled thereto, the plurality of antenna arrays including at least afirst antenna array located at a first position and a second antennaarray located at a second position, spatially separated from the firstposition, the front end subsystem configured to receive, simultaneouslyat the first position and the second position, an ambient magnetic fieldelectromagnetic signal; positioning elements, disposed in the locatorhousing and coupled to the front end subsystem, comprising one or moreglobal navigation systems and/or real time kinematic (RTK) systemsantennas and a receiver circuitry coupled thereto, for generatinglocation data; a geographic feature identification element, generating alocation for geographic features within a work environment; the at leastone processing element, disposed in the locator housing and coupled tothe front end subsystem, programmed to process a first measurement of anambient electromagnetic signal at the first position, and a secondmeasurement of the ambient electromagnetic signal at the secondposition, and determine, based at least in part on the first measurementand the second measurement, information pertaining to a buried conductorcorresponding to location data generated by the positioning elements aswell as geographic feature locations; and a non-transitory electronicmemory coupled to the at least one processing element to store thedetermined information pertaining to the buried conductor; wherein theambient electromagnetic signal includes a combination of a directmagnetic field signal emitted from a radio transmitting antenna and amagnetic field signal emitted from the buried conductor resulting fromelectromagnetic coupling of the direct magnetic field signal to theburied conductor.
 7. The system of claim 1, further comprising anelectronic display device.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the basemap element comprises a series of contiguous satellite and/or aerialphotographs or images joined or tiled together to represent the Earth'ssurface.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the series of contiguoussatellite and/or aerial photographs or images joined or tiled togetherform one or more image tiles of an area surrounding the geographicfeature that is predefined or user defined or defined by machinealgorithms.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the image tiles areseamlessly joined together.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein theidentified geographic features include one or more of manhole covers,identifiable street, sidewalk, or other infrastructure elements.
 12. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the identifiable street, sidewalk, or otherinfrastructure elements include painted or otherwise human created markssuch as the tip of a direction arrow painted on a street, and/or otherelements along the Earth's surface.
 13. The system of claim 1, whereinthe positional data includes a location having latitudinal andlongitudinal world coordinates.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein thepositional data includes orientation data.